Sidereal-civil clock combination and carrying case therefor



Aug. 22, 1933. J. P. v. HEINMULLER SIDEREAL CIVIL CLOCK COMBINATION ANDCARRYING CASE THEREFOR Filed Jan. 7, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

M ATTORNEY.

Aug. 22, 1933. P. HEINMULLER 1,923,308

SIDEREAL CIVIL CLOCK COMBINATION AND CARRYING CASE THEREFOR Filed Jan.7, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 22, 1933 SIDEREAL-CIVIL CLOCKcommunion ANDCARRYING CASE THEREFOR John P. V. Heinmuller, New York, N.Y. ApplicationJanuary 31, 1331. Serial ,No. 507,079 4 claims. '(01.58-105) My present invention relates to .chronometers and to mountingsor containers for the same,

as mountings or containers for chronometers,

. which safely and securely house such chronometers, and which permitsthe convenient inspection of such chronometers as desired, even underdifficult conditions, such as which have been met with, for example, inaviation. and advantages of the devices of the present invention will inpart be pointed out in detail hereinafter and will in part be obvious tothose skilled in the art to which the present invention relates. 1

In the accompanying specification I shall describe and in theannexed-drawings more or less diagrammatically: exemplify, anillustrative em I bodiment of the present invention. It is, however,

'to beclearly understood that my invention is not limited to thespecific embodiment. thereof herein shown and describedfor purposes ofillustration only. 7

Referring to the drawings, in which I have more or less diagrammaticallyexemplifiedthe aforesaid illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention: i

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the mountingor'container of the presentinvention in closed position with the dial or face of one of thechronometers covered by the slide; I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mounting orxcontainer shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings in closed position with the .dial or face of the remainingchronometer covered by the slide;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the mounting or container of Figs. 1 and 20fthe drawings in open position and with one of the trays removedto makethe construction of the device clearer; and Fig. 3a is a longitudinalsectional view taken on line Zia-3a of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the aforesaid illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention, and with particular reference to the various figures of thedrawings illustrating the same, 10 indicates generally the mounting orcontainer for the chronometers in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention. Said mounting or container, generally designated byreference charac- -ter 10, is preferably in the nature of a box havingOther objects a main portion 11 and a cover portion 12 suitably .securedthereto, as by means of the hinges 13. and 1.4. Y i

The bottom of. the is provided withshockuabsorbing or cushioning plate.15. having the raised side strips 16 and'l'l connected at the topsthereof with asimilar longitudinal raised strip 18. The platev isfurther provided with a centralinverted T-shaped raised strip 19 havinga. T-portion presenting projections 20 and 21 while the lower. ends ofthe strips 16 and. 17 are turned into present projections 22 and 23 in.a line with the. T-projections .20 and 21.

The plate 15.:and. its associated strips and projections aremadepreferabily of aresilient ma:

terial such as sponge, rubber or' the like andthe main.container'.portion..;11

sent a pairof rectangular pockets 24. .and. :25. by

from the following description.

The pockets'24 and25 are respectively receptive of trays 28-and 29.Since the trays .28 and 29'are substantially identical, it will besufficient. for r the purposes of the present description to describeonlyone of such trays in detail. Each tray comprises a mainbody portion30 having a well orrecess 31 for receiving the chronometer .32. Therecess31. is provided with the channel-led portion 33 so as to receivethestem 33' of the chronometer-32, thestem 33' extending into thestem-receiving pockets 26 or 27, as the case may Turning now to thecover 12 which, as already stated, is hinged to the main box orcontainer portion 11 by means of the hinges 13 and 14, the samecomprises the end walls 34 and 35, the forward wall 36 and the rear wall3'7.

The'cover is provided with a second shockabsorbing or cushioningmeansconsisting of a pair of wooden walls 38 intermediate which is secured athin resilient block 39 made of sponge, rubber or the like. The walls 38and block 39 having recesses or ports 40 and 41 in register with thechronometer dials carried in the lower, main housing 11, the ports inthe upper one of the walls 38 being bevelled at 512 to properly receivethe faces of the chronometers referred to. These same upper walls 38 arealso provided with channels 43 receptive of the stems 33' of thechronometers when the carriers of the present invention are in theirnormally closed condition.

Intermediate the upper one of the walls 38' and theupper frame portion44 of the cover 12 is a glass plate 45' permitting observation of thechronometers through the ports 40 and 41 as will hereinafter be morefullyunderstood. It may here be stated that the chronometer 32 to theleft in the various figures of the drawings is a chronometer givingreadings of mean solar-or civil time, while the chronometer to the rightin the various figures of the drawings is a chronometer giving readingsof sidereal time, the former useful for longitude readings by day by theuse of the sun or the moon, if visible, and the latter for readings bynight by means of the stars. g

The walls or frame 44 may be grooved to receive a slide 467which duringthe day time may be moved to'cover' up the port 41 corresponding to thesidereal chronometer and during the night timemay be moved to coverupthe port 40 coverbriefly summarized as follows: Assuming that-an Iobservation is intended to be made-of longitude,

for example, during the daytime, the slide 46 is moved'to coverthe-observation port 41'over the sidereal chronometer'and the desiredobser-' vation is then made with the aid of the time reading on the meansolar or civil chronometer.

Such observations are made by it in the usual.

manner as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to whichthe present invention relates. On the other hand, should it be desiredto make an observation of longitude or the like by night, the slide 46will be moved backto expose the observation port 41 over'the sidereal'chronometer and to cover up the observation port 40 over the mean solaror civiltime chronometer. The desired observation will then be made bymeans of the sidereal chronometer in the usual way, as will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art to which-the present inventionrelates.

"It will be noted that the devices of the present invention are compact,convenient to use and provide the necessary protection for such delicateinstruments as chronometers. In order that the chronometers may be allthe more securely retained in the mounting 10, I may provide suitablelocking means, such as the catches 47 and 48 on the under surface of theouter portion 36 of the cover 12 and the locking means 47 and 48'associated with. the forward portion of the main container portion 11,47" and 48" comprising releasing means for the locking mechanisms 47 and48', respectively, in a manner which will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which the present invention relates.

Other superiorities and advantages of the devices of thepresentinvention in mode of construction, operation and use, will readily occurto those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates.

What I claim as my invention is: 1. A container for. chronometers,comprising a main container portion, a plurality of chronom whileexposing the remaining'one of the chronometers.

2. A container for chronometers, comprising a 7 main container portion,a pluralityof chronometer trays side by side within said main containerportion, acover for said main container portion, a glass in said coverthrough which chronometer readings maybe made, and an opaque slide insaid main container portion, a plurality of removable chronometer traysside by side within said main container portion, 'a cover for saidmaincontainer -portion,'and an opaque slide carried in said cover forcovering one or the other of the chronometers, while'exposing theremaining one of the chronometers.

a. A container for chronometers, comprising a main container portion, aplurality'of removable.

chronometer trays side by side within said main container'portion, acover for said main container portion, a glass in said cover throughwhich chronometer readings may be made, and

an opaque slide 'in said cover for covering the portion of said glasscorresponding to one or the other .of.. the"chronometers, while exposingthe portion of said glass corresponding to the other chronometer.

JO P. v. HEINMULLER.

